642 Club Part Deux

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curious about problem

Just got my 642- back from mother ship, good as new. I searched the thread as to firing pin breakage prob and didn't see it happen much. S&W gave that as the reason for my occasional light primer strike malf. Subsequent range trip proved they got it right. 100 rounds without trouble. They sent me a prepaid and I got it back in 10 days. Continued great service Have I missed the posts that talked of this, or is it a rare occurance.
 
mwoody,

I had an XD9 for a while. It was an excellent gun, I highly recommend the XD line. Never had a problem that I didn't go out of my way to intentionally induce (limp wristing).

But like the 40, it just wasn't for me. Guess I'm a wheelie/1911 guy at heart. I'm one of those oddball wierdos that could embarrass my old 4" XD with a sweet 642 when punching paper.

DelawareDon,

Whenever you have any questions about your new pocket protector, just drop by, ya hear? :cool:

And that goes for all the new clubmembers!

To all,

I posted fairly regularly in the past, then got real busy in the last 6 months. I'll try to drop by the clubhouse a little more often to help out and say hi ;) .
 
Just got my 642- back from mother ship, good as new. I searched the thread as to firing pin breakage prob and didn't see it happen much. S&W gave that as the reason for my occasional light primer strike malf. Subsequent range trip proved they got it right. 100 rounds without trouble. They sent me a prepaid and I got it back in 10 days. Continued great service Have I missed the posts that talked of this, or is it a rare occurance.
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Firing pins can and do break on any firearm. I'm not aware of any in particular having a proclivity for breaking them, and in that same regard, your 642 is the first I've heard of that problem coming up.

J Frames rarely foul up (gotta love that), but when they do, it seems that an ill-fitted hand is the usual culprit. A couple of those problems cropped up in The 642 Club part I (sniff-sniff, still gets me all choked up).

Glad to hear S&W treated you right; they usually do.
 
holsters

Hey jt,
Are those the holsters you made yourself in the center pic of your post?

If they are when are you going to produce some for sale because they look realy cool!!

E'trode
 
Hey, jt

The rotation mechanism is taking a while, but it is coming along nicely.
Click to expand...

You know, when I first read this I had an idea come to mind. It will probably require a little hacking, and I don't even know if the product is available anymore, but here goes.

At one point in time, a few years back, for a cell phone i bought a rotation clip that came in two pieces. One part had foam tape that attached to the back of the phone and the other had a clip that would clip to your belt/pants/shorts. The round end of the piece on the phone would lock in place on the belt clip but it did have detents that would allow you to rotate it but it couldn't just freely spin around.

Might be too much trouble to modify to work in this scenario, but I figured I would at least throw the idea out for you.
 
Jad said:
I posted fairly regularly in the past, then got real busy in the last 6 months.
I'll try to drop by the clubhouse a little more often to help out and say hi.
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Dude, I know what you mean.

Business is eating my lunch right now; 60 - 70 hr weeks. I'm at a critical juncture in my business (spent the last 6 mo rebuilding it with a new product line; good reviews continue to come in, and cash flow builds, even in a tanking economy ... must ... hang ... on ... a ... little ... longer ... almost ... there ...).

If cash continues to flow, I should be able to fix my truck (broken for months)
and have enough left over to finally get my ccw
(already qualified, just too poor to pay the fee).

Ah, life is good.

x42 on my right side,
where it always is
(at least at work and home).

Carry on.

Nem, just checking in seeking sanity

smiley-ren.gif
 
mwoody66 - Welcome to the 642 Club², we are happy to have you here with us. With your previous handgun experience you should have no recoil issues with the X42's. They do require a firm, high grip, but you will sort it out after a few rounds. As for the Speed loader/Speed Strips issue, there is more here than meets the eye. In small frame revolvers like the X42 you do not get a straight line shot to insert a speed loader, rather you have to angle it into the cylinder and insert the rounds about half way and then "jiggle" them a bit to get them all in. Some folks will modify the left side grip to gain more clearance and this helps to some degree, but it still takes a fair amount of practice to master and remain proficient. They are a bit difficult to conceal and they can rattle a little if not properly secured. The speed strips are easy to conceal and carry and can be quite fast with practice and are generally my first choice. Having said that, the speed loader will load fiVe rounds faster than speed strips for a well trained and practiced shooter.

How to Shoot and Speed Load

Crosswind81 - The Speed Classic is my favorite OWB and it gets better after a little use. You will get used to CC in short order. The Mika is worth the wait and once you use it you will be hooked, after a few minutes you will forget you are carrying. As far as not being able to carry on base, no worries, all the unarmed soldiers and the "Government" will protect you :D I know exactly how you feel, we really do some incomprehensible things in this country.

electrode1998, phreeq – Thanks for the comments and suggestions. The one on the top in the middle photo is mine. I'm working on a few different designs and will have them done in a few weeks (?) maybe. I looked at all the cell phone clips and the other holster rotation designs and really found nothing I considered to be sufficient for a CCW holster that could be relied upon to function 100%, so I'm doing my own...
 
Unkle Mike's Pocket Holster

Just a little tip.

I've been carrying a Model 37 (airweight) for several years in an Uncle Mikes #4 Pocket Holster. The #3 is the "recommended" one, but I found the gun sits lower in my pocket. Something to check out....


I just received my M&P340CT today! I'll use my Uncle Mike's #4 until my new Mika holster arrives!
 
Dude, I know what you mean.

Business is eating my lunch right now; 60 - 70 hr weeks. I'm at a critical juncture in my business (spent the last 6 mo rebuilding it with a new product line; good reviews continue to come in, and cash flow builds, even in a tanking economy ... must ... hang ... on ... a ... little ... longer ... almost ... there ...).
Click to expand...

Good to here from you, my friend. Eek, 70 hrs? Still? I was pulling around 60 for about 4 months, but I'm back down to 40 hrs now, good 'ole 630 - 1500.

I for one, certainly hope your hard work pays off. I know you've put a lot of effort in to your business (you know, we've ALL been wondering for years what the heck it is that you do :D ;)). Hang in there. And speaking from a financial/economic background, lets just say that as far as the economy is concerned, Chicken Little is very much alive and doing quite well stirring it up in the mainstream media. Yeah, there are some negatives out there, but it certainly doesn't justify the constant doom and gloom I see on TV everyday. Make your own destiny dude.

Hope you are able to CCW that pocket blaster soon as well. Keep at it! :cool:
 
About a year ago, I made my very first in The 642 Club. I was welcomed warmly, my newbie questions were answered patiently and congratulations flowed from the ranks when I finally took delivery of my Smith And Wesson 642CT. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to be associated with some of the finest people I've met on the Internet. I am proud to be a member of The 642 Club and prouder still to be in the company of such fine, thoughtful, intelligent, respectful, insightful, witty, passionate, funny and creative individuals. I thank you all for your friendship over the past year and look forward to the years to come. I hope that one day, I'll see you on the range, for I still have this dream of a "642 Club Meet Greet Shoot And Post Range Grog Festival".... :cool: To all my fellow 642-Heads, I send my best regards and deepest respect....

With that said, I thought I'd make my 642nd post about the subject of speedloaders. I know this topic has been covered ad nauseam, but I thought I'd offer a few notes on what I've learned over the past year and perhaps my limited observations will save some newcomers time and money.

I always had a classic vision of a tactical reload with a revolver using HKS Speedloaders. When I bought my 642CT I picked up 4 of them - this despite the sage advice to the contrary by some fellow members. For some reason, I thought that with time and tides I could make them work. The hard truth is that after nearly a year, I have found no suitable way to accomplish a quick tactical reload with HKS Speedloaders. Try and train as I may, under simulated stress conditions, a quick reload - at least for me, is nearly impossible. I have found the most efficient way is to steady the cylinder with my trigger finger while lining up the speedloader. The real trouble comes in clearance - at least with the 642CT. I can't speak for non-CT revolvers, but on my 642CT, the grip size prohibits the HKS from fully clearing the grip, thus making it necessary to line the bullets into the cylinder and letting them drop in. Under stress, this could be a deadly scenario. Those using the CT's combined with HKS, try this: In a safe area, put yourself in an awkward position, (crouched down for example), close your eyes and try to quickly reload your 642CT with an HKS. Now imagine your heart pumping, perhaps shots going off, scared out of your wits. My inability to accomplish this in a timely and consistent manner has led me to abandon the HKS Speedloaders to my range bag and I have SpeedStrips inbound. When I receive them, I'm going to use the range timer to measure the differences in time for a reload under stress. My guess is that it will fall in favor of the SpeedStrips. Food for thought and as always, your mileage may vary....Take care out there everyone!
 
Yup Mass Mark, same problem with HKS. I went to Bianchi Speed Strips. 2 rounds on each end. Makes less bulge in my pocket and is as fast.

I hope I never have to tactically reload, but I am at least somewhat prepared.
 
MassMark - An updated classic:

Edited from the original #2429 said:
Funny thing, whenever I log on, I feel like I am walking into the old country store, There is the old pot belly stove with the mismatched chairs all around, the coffee pot going. There is Nem and five, rocking away, rdrancher, MassMark and jt over in the corner, jad, DA and Mongo at the counter, jfh, cpalmer, glockman, e-trode, and Iggy milling around the stove, setting on the bench out front is Brassman, jmt1271, 308win, bkastel, Down South, TBT and enter your screen name here , everyone else is there too. Greeting all around whenever anyone walks in like you have been living in the small town your whole life.....:cool:
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jt1

I just cleaned up my M&P 340 with a soaking of CLP. I couldn't stand it any longer! The plan was to see how many rounds I could go through before the cylinder started binding again. She got up to a few over 200 of mixed lead and plated bullets and was still spinning just about as free as a brand new one, but everything else was filthy. The only thing I had done was wipe down the outside with an old t-shirt since putting it back together about a month ago. Cleaning this time didn't involve removing the cylinder at all. I just liberally sprayed the whole weapon down with CLP, let her soak about 15 minutes, wiped it down and pulled a few patches through the cylinder and barrel. She's back in my overall pocket and clean as a whistle as I write this.:) How's your testing going with cylinder binding? By the way, I ain't buying anything yet until you show us what you come up with in the way of a car holster.
 
Yay, another SW club on the forums I can belong to!

While I love my 686 it's not the sort of gun you toss in your pocket. I went ahead and bought a 642 today (so that's ten days of twiddling my thumbs and buying holsters to go).

Thanks all for the banked info in this thread, I'm needing a good pocket holster and have found some great recommendations here already.
 
Jad said:
we've ALL been wondering for years what the heck it is that you do
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Jad, I'm an educational consultant for professional educators, health care professionals, policy makers, resource managers and others who need/want knowledge about the newest trends in science w/o a return to yet another degree program. I focus on cutting-edge sciences, especially systems sciences and systems theory.

With all I'm learning from THR, maybe I should expand that mission statement to ... well, you know.
__________

Now, this statement from above deserves repeating.

M-Mark said:
I have been fortunate enough to be associated with some of the finest people I've met on the Internet. I am proud to be a member of The 642 Club and prouder still to be in the company of such fine, thoughtful, intelligent, respectful, insightful, witty, passionate, funny and creative individuals. I thank you all for your friendship over the past year and look forward to the years to come. I hope that one day, I'll see you on the range, for I still have this dream of a "642 Club Meet Greet Shoot And Post Range Grog Festival".... To all my fellow 642-Heads, I send my best regards and deepest respect....
Click to expand...
Ditto.

By the way, great observations about speedloaders v speedstrips.
I haven't explored the former yet, but have two of the latter.
Easy and fast for me (w/o CT grips). YMMV.

Nem, x42 where it always is
 
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odd 642 question, has anyone here considered having their cylinder machined to accept moonclips? I've always been a fan of moonies and have a hard time using a speedloader quickly.

The modification seems to run $60-80 so that's no big deal, I wonder if it would have any effect on longevity / reliability.
 
Sorry about the M&P 340 post here. I thought I was on the other thread. Oh well, jt1 hovers here a lot anyway. With age comes mind warp.:eek:
 
Brian - We really do appreciate the bump for the original 642 Club and do not wish to seem ungrateful, but how about a... sticky?...

Brassman - The holster will be along soon, I am, however at a loss in respect to the "cylinder binding testing". I recall the earlier post on cleaning but...am I supposed to be conducting a test :confused:

Noxx, mydad37 - Welcome to the 642² Club. Come on in...

Moonclips? Yes, I think this would be a good mod on an X42 CCW and I have been considering it for some time. It should not impact reliability and the moonclipped rounds will be faster and a smaller package than speed loaders. With the Bantam grips it appears they will drop right in. Pocket holsters? Mika.
 
jt1

I don't think you were doing a formal test on the cylinder binding issue with respect to the M&P 340. I just thought you were informally keeping an eye on the result of round count and the binding problem. Maybe I got the wrong impression. At any length, I was kind of proud of mine going above a 200 round count and still not binding. Remember before I completely field stripped mine, cleaned it, and relubed it, about 50 or 60 rounds was as far as she could go without binding the cylinder so much that the trigger pull was about 25-30 lbs.
 
jt1

I hate to admit this, but I must be really losing my mind! Not only was I on the wrong thread when I posted about the M&P 340 cylinder binding problem, but I have the wrong "J" man. I should have been asking "jfh" about keeping up with round counts between binding problems. No wonder you didn't know what heck I was talking about. Sorry again:eek: I'll try to do a better job with where I'm posting and who I'm talking to from now on.
 
Wow, I'm in the club. Been carrying a 642 with 401CT grips on it for about a week and a half now. That thing is just a pleasure to shoot and to carry.

Thanks for all the great info I've been able to read up on this thread. Invaluable!!
 
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